Florida attorney Patricia Anne Bronson was taken into custody recently following an incident where she left two minors, aged 3 and 7, by themselves on a beach for a significant period of time. According to police, the children were alone for around 30 to 45 minutes. The charges against Bronson include two counts of third-degree felony neglect of a child without great bodily harm. Additional charges were filed against her after a vape pen was discovered in her possession during her booking at the county detention facility, violating contraband regulations. For these details, read further on the Tampa Bay Times report.
As recounted by eyewitnesses, Bronson left the children on Upham Beach and drove away, leaving the girls under her care unsupervised. One of the observers had to intervene when the 3-year-old girl was found alone in the ocean, waist-deep in water.
In defense, Bronson claimed that she had merely left the young ones while she parked the car. Nonetheless, this incident isn’t the attorney’s first brush with the law. The ABA Journal reported that she was handed a 90-day suspension in 2017 due to involvement with a nonlawyer paralegal who misrepresented himself as an attorney. Bronson admitted to this, claiming that she was unaware of the paralegal’s actions, which included soliciting clients, accepting client funds, and making negotiation attempts with prosecutors.
Florida Bar records indicate that Bronson is currently affiliated with White & Case in Tampa, the location of the firm’s Global Operations Center. The firm is yet to comment on Bronson’s arrest but has informed the Tampa Bay Time that they are looking into the situation.